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Richard Leigh
Richard Leigh (?1649-1728) was an English poet . Life Leigh was the younger son of Edward Leigh (1603-1671) and Elizabeth (Talbot) (died 1707) of Rushall, Staffordshire. He entered Queen's College, Oxford in 1666 at age 16. Sources rumor that, after school, Leigh left Oxford for London and became an actor in the Duke of York’s or King's Company]]. There were two other actors named “Leigh” during that period in the company, Anthony Leigh and John Leigh, but no records of a Richard Leigh in either company exist today. While he was a young man, Leigh wrote a prose tract attacking poet John Dryden, entitled “The Censure of the Rota on Mr. Dryden’s Conquest of Granada”, an attack which annoyed Dryden who subsequently called Leigh ‘the Fastidious Brisk of Oxford’. Some of Leigh’s works include Poems on Several Occasions and to Several Persons, “Greatness in Little” (1675), “Sleeping on her Couch”, and “The Eccho”.“Leigh, Richard.” The Encyclopedia of National Biographies. Vol XI. Kennet-Lluelyn. Reprinted 1973. Print. Leigh wrote “The Transposer Rehearsed, or the Fifth Act of Mr. Baye’s Play; being a Post-script to the Animadversions on the Preface to Bishop Bramhall’s Vindication”and a pamphlet in 1673 attacking a Mr. Dryden’s Conquest of Grenada in a pamphlet entitled “A Censure of the Rota in Mr. Dryden’s Conquest of Granada”. Leigh also published Poems upon Several Occasions and to Several Persons (1675). His will was dated March 22, 1726, proved on September 12, 1728. He was buried in the chancel of Saint Michael’s Church, Rushall. Writing Metaphysical poetry Leigh was amongst the British lyric poets of the 17th century known as the metaphysical poets. Though not all the poets of this school were aware of one another, most of them shared an interest in metaphysical matters. Metaphysical- 1. Based on abstract reasoning; transcending physical matter of the laws of nature. 2. Denoting certain 17th century English Poets known for their subtlety of thought and complex imagery. Metaphysics- 1. The branch of philosophy concerned with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being and knowing. Metaphysical Poetry- Highly intellectualized poetry written chiefly in 17th-century England. It is marked by bold and ingenious conceits, complexity, and subtlety of thought, frequent use of paradox, and often deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression. Metaphysical poetry is chiefly concerned with analyzing feeling. It is a blend of emotion and the intellectual ingenuity, characterized by CONCEIT — that is, by the sometimes forced juxtaposition of apparently unconnected ideas and things so that the reader is startled out of complacency and forced to think through the argument of the poem. Publications Poetry *''Poems upon Several Occasions, and to Several Persons''. London: Andr. Clark, for William Hensman, 1675 **(with introduction by Hugh Macdonald). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1947. Non-fiction *''The Censure of the Rota: On Mr. Driden's conquest of Granada''. Oxford, UK: H.H. for Fran. Oxlad, Junior, 1673. *''The Transproser Rehears'd; or, The fifth act of Mr. Bayes's play being a postscript to the animadversions on the preface to Bishop Bramhall's vindication, &c.: shewing what grounds there are of fears and jealousies of popery''. Oxford, UK: Printed for the assignes of Hugo Grotius & Jacob Van Harmine, 1673. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Richard Leigh 1728, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Centre, Inc. Web, Feb. 17, 2016. Poems by Richard Leigh #The Whisper See also *List of British poets * Metaphysical poets References * * * Notes External links ;Poems *Richard Leigh at the Poetry Nook (39 poems) ;About Category:English poets Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:1728 deaths Category:English male poets